


baby it's cold outside

by the_crownless_queen



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, For reasons, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, I know nothing about dorms in america, M/M, also set just before thanksgiving, locked inside by the storm, so there's like a kitchen part and no dormmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 09:18:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13004658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_crownless_queen/pseuds/the_crownless_queen
Summary: "This is what Magnus gets for waiting until the last possible minute to leave: wind so strong it almost knocks him down and a face full of icy rain the moment he so much as tries to leave the dorm buildings."Or in which a tornado warning locks Magnus and Alec in the same building on Thanksgiving weekend.





	baby it's cold outside

This is what Magnus gets for waiting until the last possible minute to leave: wind so strong it almost knocks him down and a face full of icy rain the moment he so much as tries to leave the dorm buildings.

Let’s just say he only manages a single step before he has to hurry back in. He’s shivering badly as he walks back to his room, where he plans to get dry and warm and find out what’s happening with the weather—in that order.

He barely gets to do the first two—though he quickly notes that the sound his shutters make rattling against his window is only drowned out by the way the rain pounds against them. It makes him wonder how loud, exactly, his music was as he packed his bags and cleaned his room, to make him miss all this—before a knock on his door interrupts him.

Curious, Magnus goes to open it.

“Alexander?” Magnus asks, blinking in surprise as he sees the tall, dark-haired man at his door. “Weren’t you supposed to go spend Thanksgiving with your family?”

Alec waves him a sheepish hello, hands burrowed in the sleeves of a black sweater that has definitely seen better days.  _Well_ , Magnus thinks with a rueful kind of distaste he’s come to associate with Alec’s fashion sense—or rather, the lack thereof—  _at least it looks comfortable._

“Er, surprise?” Alec laughs sheepishly, rubbing his neck. “And yeah, I was supposed to.” He sighs, disappointment shining in his brown eyes. “All the planes are grounded for at least the next two days though, and even if I tried, there’s no way I could get to the airport in this weather.” He shrugs, leaning against the doorway.

Magnus frowns, resting a comforting hand on Alec’s forearm, wishing he could do more. “I’m sorry—I know you were looking forward to it.”

Alec smiles at him thankfully. “It’s fine, really. I’ll see Max and Mum for Christmas, and Jace and Izzy should be back next week—if the weather clears. I’m just happy they managed to get back home safe before all this happened,” Alec says, gesturing at Magnus’ window, where his shutters still rattle loudly. “But what about you?” he asks, frowning a little. “Weren’t you supposed to meet with Ragnor and Catarina this weekend? Do Thanksgiving with them tomorrow and all that?”

Paying no mind to the way his heart flutters at hearing that Alec remembers his plans for Thanksgiving—even if he had mentioned them rather extensively to his best friend—Magnus moans dramatically.

“I was supposed to, yes. But when I tried to leave I almost got blown away  _and_ drowned by this  _evil_ weather, so here I am.”

Alec stares at him disbelievingly. “Magnus,” he says, “there’s a tornado warning going on. That’s why my plane is grounded, and that’s why the weather’s going crazy outside right now. I’m pretty sure it’s also why the train station is probably closed, too, so even if you miraculously managed to get there, you wouldn’t be able to actually  _go_ anywhere.”

“There’s a  _what_ , now?!”

“A  _tornado warning_ ,” Alec repeats, brow furrowing as he cocks his head to look at Magnus. “Did you seriously not know?”

Magnus shakes his head mutely.

Alec gapes at him. “ _How_? My phone’s been going crazy with alerts lately—and that was before Izzy started sending me messages from everyone back home to tell me to stay safe—and you know I almost never notice when that happens.  _You_ ’re the one who almost always has his phone in hand,  _how_ did you miss this?”

Still silent, Magnus digs in his pockets to fish out his phone. “I turned it off to save the battery for the trip,” he explains sheepishly, pressing the start button anxiously.

“Only you, Magnus, only you,” Alec laughs ruefully, joining Magnus in staring as the screen slowly lights up.

“What?” Magnus asks defensively. “It makes sense. I wouldn’t want to miss them at the station because my phone battery died and I couldn’t call, or what if Cat needed to warn me they’d had car trouble or tell me where they’d parked? You know the charging stations in those trains are crap—I couldn’t just rely on them miraculously working this one time.”

“Or you could just try not using Snapchat every five seconds,” Alec counters with a fond smile. “I think you’ll find that your battery will last much longer that way.”

“But I have to, Alexander.” Magnus pouts. “How can I not want to share this perfection with all my friends?” he asks, gesturing at himself with a wave of his fingers.

“You sent me a picture of you wearing cat ears yesterday, Magnus,” Alec deadpans, but his cheeks are flushed pink.

“And I looked adorable,” Magnus replies, delighting in the way Alec’s blush darkens.

“You looked ridiculous,” Alec huffs, but he’s smiling.

His smile is so fond, in fact, that it somehow steals Magnus’ breath away. The moment stretches, suddenly impossibly long, and Magnus finds himself getting lost in Alec’s eyes, wondering what might be the best word to describe their color. Brown simply doesn’t do them justice, and neither does hazel, or even chocolate. They are tiny specks of gold and green floating in them, and Magnus could spend his whole life tracking them around.

The moment only breaks when Magnus’ phone starts ringing, vibrating so violently and suddenly in his hand that Magnus almost drops it. “Ah, sorry?” he says, taking half a step backward and allowing himself to inhale a tiny sigh of relief as it immediately becomes easier to breathe.

He indeed has many alerts and messages—Catarina telling him to stay safely inside and to text them (if he can’t call) to let them know what’s happening, while Ragnor sends him a picture of the food they’re going to eat (the food Magnus was going to share) with a ‘ _sh_ _ame you won’t be here'_. Magnus sends him back an ‘ _I hope you get a stomach ache_ ’, followed by a devil emoji, and tells Catarina he’s stuck in the dorms, but that he should be fine, and that he’s sorry he can’t come after all.

And there, among those messages, are a handful of texts from Alec, who says that he remembered Magnus was supposed to leave too and that since they’re probably both stuck here for the time being, they might as well be stuck here together.

It’s sweet in the awkward sort of way that Magnus has come to associate with Alec, but that only makes him smile harder, heart flipping over in his chest. He taps his nails—painted a festive red and gold that he’ll probably have to change sooner rather than later now, he remarks with a note of sadness—against the screen of his phone as he reads Alec’s messages over and over again, trying to stop his heart from racing in his chest and swelling with something that tastes an awful lot like hope.

Finally, now that he’s caught up on everything there was to catch up on, he clicks the screen off and slips his phone back in his pocket, raising his head to look back at Alec.

Alec, who hasn’t moved an inch and whose cheeks flush pink, just a little, when Magnus catches him staring.

God, but Magnus doesn’t think he’s ever wanted to kiss someone so badly in his entire life.

“So,” Magnus starts, trying to ignore the way his voice breaks a little as his eyes dip to Alec’s lips, just for an instant, “what were your plans for the two of us, since we’re, as you put it so well, ‘stuck here together for a while’?”

Alec’s blush deepens, turning almost red. “Candles,” he blurts out, lifting away from the doorway with a move that has no right in making his arms bulge like that. “I was thinking,” he continues stubbornly, “that you probably had some candles. You know, in case the lights go out or something?” he hastens to explain.

“Is that likely?” Magnus frowns, retreating further back into his room to search for said candles. When Alec doesn’t move from the entrance, shuffling on his feet awkwardly, Magnus rolls his eyes and says, “Come on in, Alexander—unless you plan on staying at my door all night long.”

“I-No, no, that’s not,” Alec stutters a little, closing the door behind him so carefully it almost makes no sound as it clicks shut. “Thanks,” he sighs, shuffling in. “And no,” he adds, voice surer now, “I don’t think it’s particularly likely, but Izzy suggested it, and I figured that it probably was better to have them and not need them than the other way around.”

“Very wise, Alexander,” Magnus replies, twisting his arm until he can reach for the cardboard box he tucked underneath his bed some time ago. Triumphantly, he managed to grab one corner and drag it toward him, only to sneeze as the dust he’s stirred up tickles his nose.

“Go ahead, laugh it up,” Magnus grumbles, blowing the small layer of dust on the box away before he sets it on the bed. He grimaces slightly at the dusty feel he has on his hands now—he doesn’t have a problem with getting his hands dirty, far from it, but that’s usually from far more pleasant activities—and grabs a tissue to wipe them clean.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just...” Alec chuckles right beside him, trailing off into silence. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, head twisted to see the box Magnus has just set there, but he’s not looking at it.

Instead, he’s staring at Magnus like he’s something special, something magical, and it makes something warm and soft pool in Magnus’ chest.

“It’s just what?”

“... Nothing, it’s nothing,” Alec replies, smiling. He shakes himself a little and takes his eyes off Magnus, and it feels like the spell of the moment is broken.

No, not broken—postponed, maybe. Set aside for later.

Because there is a spell, or at least some kind of enchantment being cast on them, now. This interaction somehow feels different from the hundreds they’ve had before—studying sessions in the library or in each other’s rooms, shared takeout or morning coffee runs, just to name a few—like the air is charged with electricity.

Maybe it’s because for once, they’re truly alone, with no threat of being interrupted by a meddling friend (in Magnus’ case) or sibling (in Alec’s). Or maybe it’s because the ‘locked inside by a storm’ trope is the start of most of Magnus’ favorite romance movies; but somehow, Magnus feels like they’re at a tipping point, like they won’t be able to hide behind banter and easy flirting after this.

It is as terrifying as it is exhilarating, and Magnus really wants to see what’s on the other side of that cliff, if maybe Alec and he will grow all the closer for it. He hopes so. He really hopes so.

_Or maybe it was just the storm outside, playing on his nerves_ , Magnus thinks self-deprecatingly as thunder rolls outside, making him jump a little.

“Scared?” Alec asks, and his lips pulled into a teasing smirk but his eyes are filled with concern, and if there’s any way for Magnus to be more in love with this boy he doesn’t know what it is.

“Of a little thunder?” Magnus scoffs, arching a mocking eyebrow at Alec. “Never.”

He flops down on the bed, crossing his legs under him so he can shift through his box of candles.

They’re mostly colored, scented candles he keeps buying because he can never resist the idea of decorating his room with pretty things—even if, as he was told more than once, they are a fire hazard and are, as such, forbidden here in this building—so he’s not sure how much light they’ll actually be able to provide, but at least they’ll have something.

“So, we have candles,” Magnus states, gesturing at the spread in front of him. “Now what?”

Alec blinks, his face the perfect picture of a deer caught in the headlights, and rubs at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I, er, hadn’t really thought that far, to be honest. But we should probably get some kind of food? It  _is_ already kind of late,” Alec adds, frowning pensively.

As if on cue, Magnus’ stomach growl, and Magnus looks down at it, betrayed.

“Food sounds good,” he chuckles. “Unfortunately, I did empty my stocks a bit since I thought I would be leaving, so I don’t have much of anything left…” he winces, biting his lips.

From Alec’s panicked face, he’s in the same boat as Magnus. “I’m sure that, between the two of us, we can find at least  _something_ ,” he says, fierce determination etched into every line of his face.

He stands up, knees creaking as he does.

“You okay there, old man?” Magnus can’t help but laugh. “Need a hand, maybe?”

Alec rolls his eyes at him impressively. “I’m fine,” he scowls, but his lips are twitching into a smile. “Besides,” he replies, now fully smirking, “if  _I_ ’m old,  _you_ ’re ancient.”

“One year, Alexander,  _one_ single _year_ ,” Magnus protests theatrically, drawing a hand to his chest like he’s been dealt a mortal blow. “I’m only older than you by one year, will you just let me forget it?”

“Never,” Alec replies, grinning as he offers Magnus a hand up. “Now, come on, let’s check your cupboards, and if we don’t find anything in your cupboards, we can go check mine.”

Magnus lets himself be pulled up, heart fluttering in his chest.

Five minutes later, Alec is staring at Magnus’ bare cupboards with a kind of fascinated surprised. “Wow,” he half-whistles, “you weren’t kidding when you said these would be empty. I can’t believe you don’t even have ramens left.”

“I did warn you,” Magnus replies, trying not to laugh.

Alec keeps staring at the empty cupboards in disbelief. Magnus has to admit that they are impressively empty—honestly, he’s pretty sure the last time they were  _this_ empty was when he moved in. He hadn’t been grocery shopping last week, knowing that Cat and Ragnor would have all the food he’d need when he met them and send him home with all the leftovers he could ever ask for (they were so bad at judging quantities that at one point they had stopped trying), and had instead focused on making room in his fridge and cupboards for what he’d be bringing back.

Since he’s not going, though, it means that the only things left are half a bag of uncooked rice and a bunch of spices, most of them things that Magnus had forgotten he had. He still has flour and sugar, too, as well as a bunch of essentials, but nothing they can really make a meal of.

Gathered on the kitchen counter, this lout looks very pitiful.

Alec sighs. “And to say that I thought I had emptied our kitchen. At least we still have pasta and cheese,” he says.

“And ramens?” Magnus quips, smirking.

Alec huffs out a laugh. “If you’d like. Jace buys it in bulk, so we always have some—it’s the only thing we eat whenever Izzy decides it’s her time to start cooking.”

Magnus winces. As fantastic as Isabelle is, food making is definitely not on her list of skills.

“Honestly, I think I’ll take anything.” Magnus’ stomach growls again and his eyes catch on his discarded luggage. He feels so stupid when he realizes he’d forgotten about the food he’d packed in there, and he says so to Alec, who shakes his head fondly.

“You’re not stupid,” Alec replies, tone unusually serious. His brown eyes bear, unyielding, into Magnus’, who swallows, mouth suddenly dry.

“I know,” Magnus replies. He licks his lips and Alec looks away suddenly, cheeks flushing red.

Alec busies himself with clearing Magnus’ kitchen counter, carefully replacing everything back where he’d found it, while Magnus digs through his bag for the dinner he’d packed.

There are several sandwiches—two ham and cheese, one chicken, one pork and one turkey, because he’d had meat leftovers and making sandwiches had helped him keep busy instead of stressing over missing his train. In a way, it’s lucky he’s stuck here. Not only is he spending the weekend with Alec in what is pretty much a classic rom-com scenario, but this way he can get rid of those sandwiches. Magnus had planned on getting his friends to eat them, which they would have, but Ragnor would never have let him live it down.

He found some crisps, too, and a bottle of soda. He has an unopened bottle of wine, too, but not only is he supposed to gift it to Catarina, but Alec doesn’t really drink alcohol. While the face he pulls every time someone gets him to drink is both hilarious and adorable, Magnus isn’t in the mood to empty that bottle on his own.

Alec stares at the piling food with something akin to horrified wonder. “Well, at least this explains the state of your fridge,” he jokes.

It’s not funny, but Magnus laughs anyway. “We have food now, and candles. What’s the next step in your grand non-plan?”

Alec shrugs, cheeks a little pink. “A movie, maybe? Unless you have a better idea.”

The idea of watching a movie with Alec, cuddling on the couch—or rather, in this case, Magnus’ bed—is too appealing to pass up.

“A movie sounds perfect.”

Magnus gets his computer from his bag, mourning the mess he’s making. He had spent so long ensuring everything was packed perfectly, but with Alec here he doesn’t have the heart to put everything back where it belongs. It probably means he’ll have to iron his clothes again, but spending an evening alone with Alec is worth any chore.

Outside, the storm rages on. It seems to grow louder and more violent, as though it could feel Alec and Magnus escaping it, ignoring it.

Alec offers his Netflix password and they look through the movies the site offers, trying to find something interesting. In the end, they opt for a series—Alec has never watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is a tragedy Magnus has to remedy.

Alec is hooked halfway through the very first episode, and Magnus tries not to sound  _too_ smug as he says, “I told you so.”

Their pile of food diminishes quickly as they make their way through season 1. The storm doesn’t ease up but it’s easy enough to ignore in between the show and Alec—well, mostly because of Alec, if Magnus’ truly honest.

Magnus just can’t stop staring at him. It’s fine, he’s seen the show before—thankfully Alec doesn’t ask him too many questions or it’d be painfully obvious that Magnus isn’t, in fact, paying attention as much as he should.

It’s just… Alec is always the first person Magnus wants to share anything even remotely funny or interesting that happens to him. He’s, at cliché as it sounds, pretty much the first person Magnus thinks of in the morning  _and_ at night, however that quote is supposed to go. Spending time alone with him always feels like too much and yet not enough, but it’s never felt like  _this_ either.

Somehow, before, Magnus had always known that there was some kind of time limit on their moments alone. Be it homework (his or Alec’s), other responsibilities or just meddling friends/siblings, there was always something or someone to interrupt them. But not this time. This time, with the storm raging on outside and pretty much the entire dorm but the two of them gone for the weekend, there’s nothing that can cut their time together short.

It’s as frightening an idea as it is exciting.

They drift closer without even realizing they’re doing it. Their shoulders press together and it should feel too hot and weird, but instead, it just feels comfortable.

Of course, Magnus not actually watching the show catches up to him at the least expected time.

Many things happen at once. On the screen, credits start to roll. Alec reaches around his side of the bed and finds that the soda bottle they’d opened is empty. He turns his head to ask Magnus if he has the other one or if they should get water from the tap to fill it.

Magnus, who’s still staring at the way the light catches in Alec’s hair and makes it shine, doesn’t move back in time to avoid him. Their lips smash almost painfully and Magnus’ breath catches in his chest. He’s frozen, eyes wide open.

His heart pounds in his chest. He feels like he can’t breathe. The moment—the  _kiss_ —seems to last forever.

It’s impossible to say who makes the first move to deepen it into something gentler, into something truer. Alec shifts until he’s truly facing Magnus. He closes his eyes.

Their lips slide together softly at first, almost tentatively. It tastes like salt and sugar, and Magnus feels like he’s standing on the edge of a cliff, nothing but void ahead of him. One wrong move could ruin everything. This is precious, he thinks, and then Alec's teeth graze his lips and he stops thinking entirely.

They would have gladly stayed like this forever, Magnus believes, if power hadn’t chosen that very moment to shut down.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Magnus groans as the room plunges into darkness suddenly. The computer went on power-saving mode while they kissed, so the only light they have comes from the green LEDs on Magnus’ oven saying it’s fourteen minutes to midnight and the blinking white diode of the computer.

They reflect in Alec’s brown eyes like bewitching fairy lights and Magnus can’t resist the urge to lean in again for another kiss, though this one last a considerably shorter amount of time than the last.

“Magnus…” Alec scolds halfheartedly. “We should try to see what’s happening.”

Despite his words, he doesn’t try to move either any more than Magnus does. Instead, he sighs and starts digging through the central pocket of his black sweater. His hand emerges with a metallic cylinder, and with a clicking sound that resonates loudly in the room, a beam of strong white light shines directly into Magnus’ eyes.

With a yelp, Magnus falls backward as the light blinds him. Alec tries to help him, half laughing, half-apologizing, and Magnus can’t even find it in him to hold this against the other man.

He accepts Alec’s hand up gracefully and uses the other to try to rub the black and white spots in his vision away. Alec sets down the torch on Magnus’ bedside table, putting it inside an empty glass in a crude imitation of a lamp.

“You have a lamp torch,” Magnus deadpans once he’s back on the best and his vision has returned. “You have a  _lamp torch_.” He would like to say he’s surprised, but he’s not.

Alec rolls his eyes, shifting away a little—Magnus wants to chase after him, because right now any distance between them feels like too much distance, but he’s still a little too stunned by that earlier revelation to move. “Yes, Magnus, I have a lamp torch.”

“But you came to my room asking for  _candles_.”

Alec blushes.

“It was Izzy’s idea,” he blurts out, before rubbing his neck nervously. “I told her you probably hadn’t been able to leave either, so I wouldn’t be alone for Thanksgiving, which would be a ‘crime’.” Magnus smiles—he can hear the air quotes, and it’s easy enough to picture Isabelle fretting over her brother spending the holiday alone. God knows that if they left Alec to it, he’d rather be working than sleeping.

“Alec,” he says delightedly, because the thought has just now occurred to him, “did you ask your sister for tips on how to seduce me?”

Alec blushes. “Maybe,” he mumbles defensively, but it’s clear that he actually means  _yes_.

Magnus can’t stop smiling. “So, Alexander, how long have you been trying to seduce me for?”

If possible, Alec’s cheeks seem to get even redder. “I wasn’t trying to seduce you,” he denies with a head shake, but his smile betrays him. “I wasn’t,” he repeats, when Magnus only nods knowingly.

“Then why did you kiss me?” Magnus asks and immediately regrets it when their easy atmosphere feels drained of warmth.

Only, no, he doesn’t, because he really does need to know, and he thinks that Alec needs to say it too.

“It was an accident,” Alec blurts out, and before Magnus’ face even as the time to finish falling, rushes to add, eyes widened with panic, “but I don’t regret it. I don’t—I’ve wanted to kiss you for ages. Do, er, do you regret it?” His hands grip Magnus’ like a lifeline.

Magnus shakes his head mutely. The words feel raw as he forces them out of his mouth. “I don’t regret it either.”

“Good. Good. That’s good.” Alec’s smile widens with every repetition of the word ‘good’, and Magnus finds himself smiling back helplessly and then laughing.

“Good,” he says, and the eye roll Alec sends his way is truly phenomenal.

“Sorry, sorry,” Magnus replies, but he can’t quite seem to stop laughing. He’s too happy right now to truly try.

“A kiss for forgiveness?” he asks, batting his eyelashes.

Alec huffs out a laugh. “You’re going to be impossible about this, aren’t you?” he says, but his eyes are happy, and he’s still grinning.

“Only if you don’t kiss me again,” Magnus swears, but something in his eyes must have given  _something_ away, because Alec’s entire face softens, something liquid and warm making his eyes glow from the inside.

“Hey,” he says, the moment turning fragile and serious in the blink of an eye. Alec’s fingertips graze Magnus’ cheek, the points of contact like tiny electric sparks under his skin. “You’re not  _really_ impossible, okay? I don’t care who said that before, they were wrong.”

Magnus considers making a distracting quip, something like ‘clearly you haven’t seen me in the mornings’, but it doesn’t feel like the time for those. “I know, Alec,” he says instead, leaning into Alec’s touch even as he rolls his eyes. “I do know that, you don’t have to worry.”

Because maybe a year ago Magnus wouldn’t have, but these days he really does.

Alec’s eyes search his face for a long moment before he nods once and draws back a little. His hand falls to his side and Magnus misses it instantly.

He smirks. “Good.”

Magnus just glares at him, trying to suppress the twitching of his lips. “Don’t start that again,” he warns, waving a finger in the air. His eyes are laughing.

“Why don’t you stop me, then?” Alec taunts, pupils dilating as he licks his lips slowly.

Magnus grins, shuffling closer. “Why don’t I, indeed.”

The light comes back halfway through their kiss, but this time they don’t stop.


End file.
